Sunday, July 18, 2010

2) Post the picture and answer the questions as follows.(i) Describe the product. This product is a natural toothbrush. It is made of wood shaped like a stick. It is brown in colour, with rough texture. The toothbrush is used by brushing your teeth with the edge of it. Then, the edge is cut off to be able to be used again.(ii) What are the design considerations when designing this product?

It has to be waterproof so in will not have any mould, less rough so the elderly will not cut themselves, and whether it can be cut easily.(iii) Would an elderly faced difficulty using this product? If yes, what are the difficulties that the elderly would face?

They may have problems cutting it because of weaker muscles, and they may cut themselves if the toothbrush is too rough.(iv) What do you think can be done to improve on the design of the product to suit the elderly? (Sketch the improved design in your sketchbook and take a picture of it. Post the improved sketch at the end of your post.)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

For the first issue, the worker in workplace 1, his chair cannot have it height adjusted properly. He has to sit on it for long periods of time, and I can tell that he is very uncomfortable from his actions. In workplace 2, the worker's 'liberty chair' can have its height adjusted properly, can let him sit comfortably, and has a mechanism to allow the user to lean back.

For the second issue, the worker at workplace 1 has many difficulties looking at the computer screen which is far away even with his glasses as he is leaning towards the screen and squinting. The worker in workplace 2 however, has no problem with that as he has the 'M7 monitor arm' which allows him to shift the screen closer to him.

For the third issue, the worker in workplace 1 has table lamps which are too bright, so he cannot see the screen clearly. When he switches it off, it will be to dim. If he tries to reposition it, the lamp will be to hot for him to touch. The worker in workplace 2 has a lamp which is bright, but will only cover a small area, so the light is enough to let him see his paperwork, and will not be too bright and cause him to not be able to see the screen clearly.

For the fourth issue, the worker in workplace 1 is sitting in a chair which is not giving him much space for his hands to move about to type. I can tell he is uncomfortable as his facial expression clearly shows it. However, the worker in workplace 2 is sitting in a 'freedom chair' instead. The freedom chair allows worker 2 to have space for his hands to move around, and when he wants to rest his arms, there is an armrest which can be lifted up so he can use it. The chair also can allow him to lean back and relax when he is tired. He is clearly very comfortable and happy from the looks of his actions facial expression.

For the fifth issue, the worker in workplace 1 is very uncomfortable working on his laptop and is fidgeting and trying to find the perfect position to place his laptop and do his work. However, the worker in workplace 2 is perfectly fine and comfortable as he is using the 'L2 laptop holder', which allows him to put his laptop in a position of a personal computer, which is obviously more comfortable for him.

For the final issue, the worker in workplace 1 has a table that is filled with all his work, and is all messy, so he cannot find a space to do his work. His expression shows that he is frustrated. When he gets a small space, he accidentally knocks down his coffee. However, the worker in workplace 2 has a railing which can keep all or most of his stuff, so his table will have space for him to do his work.

I would choose workplace 2 over workplace 1 as it is more spacious, comfortable, makes things easier to do, and it is very user-friendly.

The considerations that should be taken into place are that whether the user will be able to concentrate in that environment, whether the user will be comfortable, and whether the user can have enough space to move.

Ergonomics is important as it helps to make people perform better in their work if the item or place is designed properly.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

For my final observation, I observed that the elderly have many problems when they take public transportation such as buses and MRTs.

Firstly, there are some commuters who are lazy or do not care for other older people. So, they pretend to be asleep or busy with something like reading when the see elderly boarding. This causes the elderly to may not be able to find seats, so they will have to stand. If the bus or train suddenly jerks, they will fall and may injure them severely. So, we all have to be more considerate to elderly and give up our seats to them as they are much weaker and easier to fall.

The government should educate the public more and parents should start cultivating that habit in their children too. This will then ensure that the elderly will have a better time travelling in public transportation.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

For my third observation, I observed that my grandparents staying at my home take very long to cook a simple meal. They cannot stay at the stove to stand and cook food there for long periods of time as their legs are much weaker than ours. So, they will take breaks and sit at the sofa when the food is cooking. Sometimes, they forget about it and it ends up overflowing or being burnt. This can be dangerous for elderly who stay alone as if they fall asleep while the food is cooking, something may happen and cause a fire, which will endanger not only themselves but their neighbours too.

For my second observation, I observed elderly around my neighbourhood have problems walking, including my grandparents.

The elderly will have many problems with their body, such as:

- joint problems

- brittle bones

- weak muscles

These problems will affect them a lot as they will move from one place to another much slower, and that will cause them to waste more time. Then, if they walk down stairs, it will be much easier to fall and be seriously injured

Moving around is a very big problem, so there should be more railings and less steep steps at places where elderly go more often.

The four key recommendations of the report were the housing, accessibility, caring, and opportunities for the seniors.

Housing for the seniors means that Singapore will be a place where the elderly can live like a family with others from the community, and there will be houses to meet the needs of the seniors.

Accessibility for the seniors means that Singapore will cater to the needs of the elderly, removing some obstacles that may hinder the seniors from doing their everyday tasks.

Caring for the seniors means that Singapore will make sure that the seniors will have efficient, cheap and accessible care for them, such as healthcare, and will cater to most of their needs.

Opportunities for the seniors means that Singapore will give more opportunities to seniors for them to be with their family more and work with others in the community.

One way the report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly is to get HDB to provide more rental housing options for seniors, by exploring the lease of its vacant flats to voluntary welfare organisations for the elderly who may prefer to rent than buy, or need to downgrade from their existing flats.

Two ways we can make the quality of elderly care in Singapore affordable are to get the government to top up medisave accounts of the less fortunate, and get them to have a caregiver centre families in care-giving through provision of information resources and programmes.

Three things I can do as an SST student to help them overcome these elderly challenges are by donating some money to help them, help out at old folk’s homes sometimes, and maybe try to get some people to volunteer there.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

I have observed that most of the elderly have problems going up and down the steps when they go to markets for grocery shopping or having meals. Some of them bring their own shopping carts withthem to carry groceries, so it is more difficult for them to go down the stairs. Then, the steps may pose a hazard as the elderly may fall down due to their weaker legs. There are stairs in my house, and my grandparents have trouble walking up and down the stairs.

I would suggest that these places have more ramps instead of stairs to facilitate the movement of the elderly, so they will have an easier time.

It would also be good if the future markets have escalators built in them so that the elderly will not have to walk, just like in this market.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I learned about the 3 main taps of Singapore, how the processes of cleaning water in the NEWater plants work, and how much water is consumed or wasted by Singaporeans everyday.

2. Name 2 concepts that you have learnt today during the visit. I learned about how Singapore's water supply is not everlasting if we do not do anything about it and that how foreign particles are separated from water molecules.

3. What is the 1 interesting thing that you have learnt today? The 1 interesting thing I have learned today is that NEWater has three different methods of cleaning water to make sure that no or very few bacteria, viruses or foreign particles are left in the water.

4. What are the things that you can do to help with water conservation in Singapore?

I can help by using less and waste less water to help in water conservation.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The three key things I learnt in this lesson were that we have to start thinking early in order to get good ideas, or we will end up with bad ideas, so we should never leave things to be done at the last minute. I also learned that everyone should help to save the environment, and we must know what the current situation very well before creating a proposal.

2. Name 2 concepts that you have learnt today pertaining to design and describe why is it important in design? I learned that we should always come up with a few sketches and designs before we start making a certain thing to reduce mistakes. We must also make sure that it is a design which will work and be useful.

3. What is the 1 interesting thing that you have learnt today?

The 1 interesting I learnt today is that we should come up with a plan before we do anything.